


A Hymn for Him

by eveshka



Series: Tales of the Dawn King [29]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-30
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-12-08 22:17:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11655831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eveshka/pseuds/eveshka
Summary: So Ignis sat with him in the living room of his residence in Lestallum and told a story of children, loss, and how two little boys took care of each other.





	A Hymn for Him

**Author's Note:**

> Rating: G  
> Warnings: None  
> Characters: Ignis Scientia, Stasios Teleon, Regis Lucis Caelum, Noctis Lucis Caelum  
> Time Period: Year 8 of Darkness, with flashback  
> Location: Lestallum / Insomnia

Ignis was humming a song under his breath, a child’s song. He’d been humming it off and on through the day, something Stasios recognized as a thing Ignis did for self-comfort. He’d never asked before, but something prompted him to query how the song had come to lodge itself in Ignis’ heart.

So Ignis sat with him in the living room of his residence in Lestallum and told a story of children, loss, and how two little boys took care of each other.

Ignis had, after all, been almost seven when he was drawn to the side and informed of his parent's death. He recalled it as clear as if it had happened last week. As he told the story, he found himself falling into the memory.

\---

"Ah, Ignis, there you are. Come, I have something that I must discuss with you. Walk with me, if you would," It wasn't every day that the king himself asked it of Ignis, but he'd thought it had to do with Noctis, so he had agreed and followed Regis amiably.

The kitchens had been empty when they arrived, and yet, at the small table where the cooks did the prep work, two stools were arranged carefully in front of two bowls of ice cream topped with sprinkles. (To this day, Ignis could not eat ice cream.) Excited, he'd collected his spoon and was three bites in when Regis broke the news as gently as he could.

Ignis had quietly placed his spoon to the side and quietly thanked Regis for telling him personally, and then dismissed himself with all the courage a six-year-old could muster, walking quietly through the hallways to Noctis’ rooms, all the while aware that he was shadowed by his king.

 

Hours later had found him curled up with a book in a high-backed chair in Noctis' rooms, waiting for the prince to return from a morning lesson, and though he hadn't intended it, tears were rolling down his cheeks while he read. The words barely reached him, and the only thing in his mind was that his parents were gone.

His father, gruff but loving. His mother, warm and gentle and everything that had made Ignis himself. Her songs and lullabies, her cooking... even the scent of her perfume. All those things were gone now, and it was hard for him to understand why. But he had a duty to the Prince of Lucis, and that would have to take precedent. He sucked in his bottom lip, bit down on it, and tried to make his eyes focus on the words. Goofus and Gallant at the Royal Ball. A child’s treatise on behavior.

 

“Igigg sad?” The voice broke all efforts of concentration, and liquid green eyes lifted over the edge of the book to meet questioning blue ones. A pudgy hand planted itself on the chair beside Ignis, and the Prince of Lucis climbed up with the grace of the mythical axebeak, more tumbling into place in the chair than actual climbing.

Once he’d righted himself by way of clutching Ignis’ arm, Noctis reached out and none-too-gently poked Ignis’ wet cheek. “Sad Igigg no cry.” He poked again, and then a third time, touching different tears each time.

Ignis took the boy’s hand, moving it away from his face. “My mom died.” It was the only thing he could think of to say, and even then, it was a whisper, as if by saying it he made it true.

The darker haired boy nodded as if to say ‘well, that happens’ and then moved to pat Ignis on the head. “I could be your mom.” He leaned his head on Ignis’ arm, looking up with those enormous eyes as if begging Ignis to accept.

Even at that age, Ignis had a good idea that Noctis didn’t know what he was talking about, but it looked as if the Prince was going to start crying at any moment, and that would bring in the nanny, and she’d fuss over them both… which was something Ignis didn’t want. “Okay.”

That made Noctis smile, and he patted Ignis on the shoulder before he burrowed up under the book, nestling his head in Ignis’ lap. Before Ignis could object, though, Noctis began patting Ignis’ knee, singing softly in his childishly sweet but off-key way.

“You are my sunshine… my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray.” Ignis felt new tears in his eyes, sharp and hot. His mother had sung this song to him. Unaware, Noctis kept warbling. “You’ll never know dear; how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

When Noctis didn’t start again, Ignis felt his own mouth opening, singing the second verse, much darker than the chorus, and yet painfully fitting. “The other night dear, as I lay sleeping. I dreamed I held you in my arms. But when I awoke, dear, I was mistaken, and so I hung my head down and cried.”

Noctis joined him again on the chorus, trailing his hand along Ignis’ leg, perhaps in a motion he’d learned was comfort from a nanny. It made Ignis choke, and once again it was Noctis who finished the words as Ignis buried his face in the book so the younger boy wouldn’t see his tears.

   


They’d sing the song at each other quietly over the years when one needed support from the other until Noctis was injured, and then it was Ignis who sang Noct to sleep after his recovery, trying to reconnect with the boy.

 

In time, as they grew older, Noctis sang it less and less, the Crown Prince becoming painfully aware that his was not a voice made for tune, and it was only natural that Ignis too found better ways to support his liege. But some nights were made for old memories and the song would be quietly hummed as Ignis moved past Noctis, a reminder that the younger man wasn’t alone in a rapidly deteriorating world.

 

And it was years later, while he waited in the dark, Ignis sat beside Stasios and sang the song that he hummed to himself when he missed Noctis the most. “Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

**Author's Note:**

> #Ignoctweek


End file.
